Media & Entertainment Law

Podcast: The Right to Counsel in Civil Cases

Posted on November 18, 2009
The Supreme Court's 1963 decision, Gideon v. Wainwright, guaranteed that criminal defendants unable to afford their own lawyer would have one appointed at the public's expense. Should there be a corollary right in certain types of civil cases that involve basic human needs, such as when a person faces eviction from a home or the loss of parental rights? California recently made history by enacting a pilot program to appoint lawyers in certain civil cases and other pilot programs are underway elsewhere in the country...

Podcast: E-mail and the 4th Amendment

Posted on November 05, 2009
Does the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures extend to e-mail and data stored in "the cloud"? Surprisingly, the question remains unsettled in the courts. On this week's legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we discuss the extent to which e-mail and other online data are protected in both the criminal and civil contexts...

Mass. Judge Slams Blogger's Special Treatment

Posted on September 11, 2009
A federal prosecutor's decision to let prominent political blogger Andrew Sullivan off the hook for a marijuana bust was condemned yesterday by a federal magistrate judge in Boston as unjustified favoritism. But finding that he was without power to override the prosecutor's decision, the magistrate judge dismissed the charges nonetheless...

Fellowships for Freelance Legal Journalists

Posted on September 11, 2009
Passing on the following announcement:Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications will award four Carnegie/Newhouse School Legal Reporting Fellowships to support freelance journalists reporting on legal issues.The $3,000 awards include paid student research assistants for each reporting fellow, which will give Newhouse students practical experience covering law and the courts...

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Podcast: 'Crowdsourcing' Patent Reviews

Posted on August 17, 2009
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is understaffed and overwhelmed. Could the answer to its problems lie in crowdsourcing the patent-review process? Could crowdsourcing result in better patents?This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we look at the Peer-to-Patent system, an innovative pilot project run jointly by the USPTO and the Center for Patent Innovations, a research and development arm of New York Law School's Institute for Information Law & Property...

Two Distortions of the Open Meeting Law

Posted on July 30, 2009
How's that old saying go about the devil quoting the Bible for his own ends? The same, it seems, can be said about public officials and the open meeting law, as two items in the news today illustrate.First is a story from the Worcester Telegram about the Dudley Board of Selectmen's decision to reprimand the town's fire chief for supposedly violating the open meeting law...

Ethics Bill Weakens Open Meeting Law

Posted on June 26, 2009
The Massachusetts legislature yesterday unanimously approved a major ethics bill and Gov. Deval Patrick last night indicated he would sign it. Few members of the public realize that contained within this bill is a major overhaul of the state's open meeting law...

Gov?s ad plan riles newspaper group

Posted on April 09, 2009
Coverage of this week's legislative hearing on public notices: Gov?s ad plan riles newspaper group. See also this editorial from Gatehouse News: Don't reduce access to state contract information.

1st Circuit Denies Review of Libel Ruling

Posted on March 18, 2009
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today turned down a petition asking the full circuit to rehear en banc the controversial decision Noonan v. Staples, in which a three-judge panel ruled that truth is not an absolute defense to libel. My earlier post about that ruling is here...

Lines drawn in battle to open government

Posted on March 15, 2009
The Springfield Republican kicks off Sunshine Week with a piece on the need to reform Massachusetts public records and open meeting laws: Lines drawn in battle to open workings of government.

Official Questions Closed Door Meeting

Posted on March 08, 2009
"Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should do it." That notable quote came from Nicholas V. Hammond, a selectman in the town of Auburn, Mass., regarding a closed-door session that should have been open. As reported by Bill Fortier in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the town's selectman and its school committee went into a joint executive session, ostensibly to discuss strategy involving collective bargaining...

Journalists Warily Eye Massachusetts Libel Ruling

Posted on March 06, 2009
AP reporter Denise Lavoie has this story today on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Noonan v. Staples that I wrote about on Feb. 16.

Libel Ruling Protects Anonymous Comments

Posted on March 01, 2009

Board's E-mails Violated Open Meeting Law

Posted on February 27, 2009

More Views on 'Dangerous' Libel Case

Posted on February 18, 2009
Friday's 1st Circuit decision that truth is not always a defense to libel -- which I posted about here and here -- continues to draw reactions from other bloggers:At Nieman Journalism Lab, Martin Langeveld writes: "The case threatens to muzzle both news and entertainment media, and could be particularly dangerous to independent bloggers and small startup news organizations ? neither of which is likely to have the legal resources a traditional established news organization has to battle libel suits...

More on 1st Circuit's 'Dangerous' Libel Ruling

Posted on February 17, 2009
The 1st Circuit's libel ruling that I wrote about here yesterday has drawn reaction from a number of commentators. Dan Kennedy wrote about it for his weekly column in the Guardian. (In fact, it was Dan's request for comment that led me to write my post...

Think You Know Libel Law? Think Again

Posted on February 16, 2009
A bedrock principle of libel law is that truth is an absolute defense. If what you say about someone is true, the person cannot win a libel case against you, even if you defame them. The federal appeals court in Boston put a jackhammer to the bedrock this week...

Public Records Panel Friday in Boston

Posted on January 26, 2009
I received the following announcement from Bruce Mohl, editor of CommonWealth Magazine:January 30 , 2009 Hard Data: A panel discussion on the Massachusetts Public Records Law 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.The State HouseRoom A-2Boston, MA CommonWealth magazine will host "Hard Data: A panel discussion on the Massachusetts Public Records Law...

Lowell Sun Files Open Meeting Complaint

Posted on January 18, 2009
Latest example of government officials turning the law upside down: Preparing to go into a closed school committee meeting, the Wilmington, Mass., school superintendent told a Sun reporter that it would be illegal for the committee to meet in public. In fact, the law requires a public meeting before going into closed session...

Time Almost Up: Help Us Win Best Podcast

Posted on January 01, 2009
Voting ends tomorrow, Jan. 2, for best legal podcast in the ABA Journal Blawg 100. Our podcast, Lawyer2Lawyer, was in the lead, but has fallen into second place in these waning hours, behind the LexisNexis Legal News and Litigation Report. Voting is easy -- all you have to do is click on a box...

Our Podcast Named Best for Lawyers

Posted on December 22, 2008
For the third year running, a href="http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/2008/12/dennis_kennedys_2008_lawrelated_blogging_awar.html"Dennis Kennedy's Blawggie Awards/a have named a href="http://www.legaltalknetwork.com/modules.php?name=Newsnew_topic=15"Lawyer2Lawyer/a as the best legal podcast...

Judge Reprimanded for Letters to Publisher

Posted on December 18, 2008
The judge who sent threatening letters to the publisher of span style="font-style: italic;"The Boston Herald/span received a public reprimand today from the Supreme Judicial Court. The SJC concluded that Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy violated standards of judicial ethics when he wrote two letters to Herald Publisher Patrick J...

Salem News: Why the Secrecy?

Posted on December 17, 2008
Commenting on the Haverhill school committee's secret meeting to discuss an overdue electric bill, a href="http://www.salemnews.com/puopinion/local_story_351224421.html?keyword=topstory"The Salem News/a says:blockquoteIn general, public officials should err on the side of openness rather than privacy...

MNPA Annual Meeting: Still Time to Register

Posted on December 01, 2008
The annual meeting of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association is this Friday, Dec. 5. There is still time to register and you can do so using the 2008 registration form.The luncheon speaker is retiring Supreme Judicial Court Justice John M...

Two New Open Meeting Investigations

Posted on November 17, 2008
In Brookfield, the Worcester district attorney is investigating allegations that the Board of Selectmen violated the open meeting law twice in as many months, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. Two selectmen are alleged to have participated in unposted meetings on July 8 and Sept...

Boston Globe Newsroom

Posted on November 15, 2008
Cell phone pic taken yesterday during tour.

Several Open Meeting Items Today

Posted on October 31, 2008
A number of open meetings items in the news today:Board Cited 3rd Time on Meeting Law. For the third time in a year, the Charlton Water-Sewer Commission has been cited for violating the open meeting law.Town Manager Under Fire. Stoughton residents vent anger over perceived open meeting law violation...

The Wilkerson Case and the Open Meeting Law

Posted on October 30, 2008
Sen. Diane Wilkerson faces the possibility of prison for allegedly violating the law and the public trust. Yet other public officials involved in this case also may have violated the law and the public trust, but they are unlikely to face any consequences...

A Call for a Public Access Task Force

Posted on October 27, 2008
I tend to equate the suggestion, "Appoint a committee," with "Avoid a decision." But the more I read about the need for reform of Massachusetts' open-government laws, the more frustrated I get at lawmakers' lack of action. I now believe that this is one problem that appointing a committee could actually help fix...

Yet Another Open Meeting Violation

Posted on October 21, 2008
Milford selectman violated "both the letter and the spirit" of the open meeting law when they met privately last summer with a real estate developer to discuss a proposed casino, the Worcester district attorney ruled this week. I take "the letter and the spirit" to imply that the board's violation was not just literal, but also intentional...

Ambrogi Elected Trustee of Bar Foundation

Posted on October 21, 2008
I am extremely honored to announced that I have been elected a trustee of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, the premiere legal charity in Massachusetts working to increase access to justice for all people in the state. The MBF is the philanthropic partner of the Massachusetts Bar Association and is one of three charities designated to distribute IOLTA funds to programs that provide civil legal services and that enhance the administration of justice...

As Open Meeting Law Burns, Legislature Fiddles

Posted on October 19, 2008
Massachusetts district attorneys have slapped the knuckles of at least two more town boards for violations of the open meeting law. I wrote here last week about the Worcester DA's ruling that the Charlton board of selectman violated the law by meeting in private to evaluate the town administrator...

DA Says Town Broke Open Meeting Law

Posted on October 13, 2008
Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. has ruled that the Charlton, Mass., board of selectmen violated the open meeting law by meeting in private to evaluate the job performance of Town Administrator Robin Craver. The DA was acting on a complaint filed by the Telegram & Gazette, which reported the ruling in an Oct...

Springfield Acts to Open Police Board

Posted on October 08, 2008
I posted here last week about a ruling from the Hampden County district attorney that a Springfield board created by the mayor to review citizen complaints against police is not covered by the open meeting law. Now, The Republican reports that the City Council is considering re-establishing the board through a municipal ordinance, which would have the effect of bringing the board under the open meeting law...

Judge Grants Press Access to Poutre Testimony

Posted on October 01, 2008
A judge in Springfield ruled this morning that the news media will be allowed to cover the testimony of 14-year-old Haleigh Poutre if she appears in court to testify in the child abuse case against her stepfather, Jason D. Strickland. According to a report published today by The Republican, Hampden Superior Court Judge Judd J...

Mass. Libel Case Survives Appeal

Posted on October 01, 2008
A libel case brought by a former Abington town official against the Brockton Enterprise will be allowed to proceed to trial, based on a ruling issued today by the Massachusetts Appeals Court. In Howell v. The Enterprise Publishing Company, the court refused to dismiss claims against the newspaper, despite the newspaper's arguments that its stories were protected by the "fair report" privilege...

Police Board Not Bound by Meeting Law

Posted on October 01, 2008
The Massachusetts open meeting law does not apply to a board created to review citizen complaints against police, the Hampden County district attorney's office has decided, according to a report yesterday in The Republican newspaper. The opinion issued by Assistant District Attorney Katherine E...

Mass. Court Says News Carrier is Employee

Posted on September 26, 2008
In a case involving the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, the state Appeals Court ruled yesterday that independent news carriers are to be considered employees under the state's unemployment compensation law. The ruling hinged on the "degree of control" exercised by the newspaper over the carrier, with the court finding that the T&G exercised greater control than did the Athol Daily News in a 2003 case in which the Supreme Judicial Court reached the opposite conclusion...

Podcast: Ike's Impact on Texas Lawyers

Posted on September 24, 2008
When Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast, lawyers were not spared. Many lawyers were hard hit in both their profesisonal and personal lives. On this week's episode of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, my cohost J. Craig Williams and I interview Bill Livesay, executive director of Andrews Kurth LLP in Houston, and Miriam Rozen, staff reporter for Texas Lawyer newspaper...

Nantucket Ordered to Release Records

Posted on September 23, 2008
Acting on an appeal by the Inquirer and Mirror newspaper, the Massachusetts Division of Public Records has ordered Nantucket officials to release a confidential settlement agreement entered into with a former town employee, the Inquirer and Mirror reports today...

New Complaint Filed on Open Meeting Law

Posted on September 23, 2008
From today's Worcester Telegram & Gazette: "The Telegram & Gazette yesterday filed a violation of the Open Meeting Law complaint with Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.?s office regarding a Sept. 8 Water-Sewer Commission meeting that was not posted...

Northeastern Launches First Amendment Center

Posted on September 23, 2008
Northeastern University and the New England First Amendment Coalition have teamed up to launch the New England First Amendment Center, a project designed to focus public attention on access to public records and meetings. From Friday's announcement:The First Amendment Center will continuously update its website with news about public access and First Amendment issues from across New England and around the nation...

Bloggers Offered Insurance, Legal Training

Posted on September 22, 2008
The Media Bloggers Association is spearheading a project to provide bloggers with first-of-its-kind liability insurance as well as free online training in media law. I have full details in a post today at Law.com's Legal Blog Watch.

Judges/Journalists Workshop Tomorrow

Posted on September 18, 2008
I will be speaking tomorrow at the New England regional Judges/Journalists Workshop in Portsmouth, N.H., sponsored by the National Center for Courts and Media.

Boston Flips Open Government on it Face

Posted on September 11, 2008
How does that saying go about the devil reading the Bible to his own ends? That was all I could think of as I read a report arguing that the First Amendment gives Boston city councilors the right to conduct the people's business behind closed doors. I first heard about it through a story in the Boston Herald (Secret society: City Council mulls end to open meetings) and then obtained a copy through a post to a listserv...

Podcast: MBTA v. Anderson

Posted on August 29, 2008
It all started when three MIT students put together a presentation for their network security class at MIT about their findings regarding the security vulnerabilities of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's CharlieCard fare-pass system. Just as the students were about to present their findings at DEFCON, the MBTA went to federal court and won a gag order preventing them from speaking...

Looking for Lawyer2Lawyer Listeners

Posted on August 19, 2008
Are you a listener to our legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer? If so, we'd like to have you as a guest on a special program to mark our third anniversary later this month. We know you're out there -- our podcast last month had more than 40,000 downloads...

Podcast: Legendary Lawyer Gerry Spence

Posted on August 14, 2008
Legendary trial lawyer Gerry Spence is our special guest this week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer. Spence came to national prominence for handling the Karen Silkwood case and was most recently in the news for winning an acquittal for Michigan lawyer Geoffrey Fieger...

Mass. Shield Bill Fizzles in Legislature

Posted on July 30, 2008
Yesterday, The Patriot Ledger carried a story on the apparent death of a reporters' shield bill in Massachusetts."The effort to pass a shield law in Massachusetts offering protections to journalists and their anonymous sources was declared dead by its supporters on Monday...

Boston Approves New Newsrack Ordinance

Posted on July 30, 2008
The Boston City Council today voted to approve a significant overhaul of the city's ordinance governing the placement of newsracks. The most significant change is in the fees newspapers must pay. Under the prior ordinance, newspapers paid a one-time registration fee of $150...

My Column Wins National Press Award

Posted on July 27, 2008
Indulge me as I blow my own horn. The American Society of Business Publication Editors this week awarded me its national silver award for best contributed column in a publication with a circulation under 80,000. I received the award for the "Web Watch" column I write for the magazine Law Technology News, an ALM publication...

Podcast: Viacom v. YouTube v. Privacy

Posted on July 25, 2008
A $1 billion lawsuit by Viacom accuses Google's video-sharing Web site, YouTube, of violating its copyrights. Last week, Google and Viacom reached an agreement to allow Google to mask user information from records before handing them over to Viacom. On this week's legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, my co-host J...

Judge Backs Schools in Open Meeting Case

Posted on July 24, 2008
The MetroWest Daily News reports that a Massachusetts Superior Court judge has ruled for the Wayland School Committee in an open meeting law case challenging the discussion in executive session of the school superintendent:"A Middlesex Superior Court judge has ruled the Wayland School Committee did not violate the state's Open Meeting Law in 2004 by discussing Superintendent Gary Burton's evaluation in executive session...

Revised Guide to Mass. Court Records

Posted on July 24, 2008
The District Court Department of the Massachusetts courts has issued a revised version of its Guide to Public Access, Sealing & Expungement of District Court Records. The blog Massachusetts Law Updates says of it: "This is a publication we have long loved in the law libraries for its clarity in explaining which court records are available to the public and which are not...

Podcast: Zittrain on the Future of the Internet

Posted on July 17, 2008
Unless something is done to change its course, the future of the Internet, as Jonathan Zittrain sees it, is one of far less innovation and far more -- and far more ominous -- control. Zittrain, who just became a tenured professor at Harvard Law School, discusses his book, The Future of the Internet ? And How to Stop It, on this week's episode of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer...

Podcast: Judge Gertner on Blogging, Speech

Posted on July 10, 2008
U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner, who attracted the attention of bloggers and the news media earlier this year when she joined the roster of contributors to the new Slate legal blog, Convictions, shares her thoughts on judicial blogging and judicial speech in this week's episode of our legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer...

Boston Proposes Hike in Newsrack Fees

Posted on July 10, 2008
I testified Monday at a Boston City Council hearing on an proposed overhaul to Boston's newsrack ordinance. Jessica Heslam at the Boston Herald covered the hearing and has this report: Menino pushes plan to hike fees for city?s news boxes. It was also picked up by Editor & Publisher.

Reporters Won?t be Called in Boston Case

Posted on May 29, 2008
The judge presiding over a Massachusetts murder trial ruled yesterday that that two reporters will not be forced to testify about how they obtained a suicide note written by the defendant in jail while awaiting trial. David E. Frank has the news at the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly blog The Docket.

Op-ed on open meetings bill

Posted on May 03, 2008
The Boston Globe today published an op-ed I wrote on current efforts to reform the Massachusetts open meeting law: Open the doors to public meetings.

Podcast: Polygamy and the Law

Posted on April 27, 2008
The raid of a polygamist compound in West Texas has raised difficult and troubling issues concerning the interplay between the state, religion and the rights of children, women and families. This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, I discuss the events in Texas with two guests: Betsy Branch, a family-law attorney with the Dallas firm of McCurley, Orsinger, McCurley, Nelson & Downing, who serves as attorney ad litem for several children in the West Texas case, and lawyer and social critic Wendy Kaminer, who has written about the civil liberties aspects of the case at the blogthefreeforall...

Text of Open Meeting Bill

Posted on April 18, 2008
The open meeting bill (H 3171) reported yesterday by the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight would overhaul the law by centralizing oversight and enforcement in the attorney general's office. Since the text of this most recent version does not yet appear on the legislature's Web site, I am posting it here in its entirety...

Open Meeting Bill Lacks Teeth

Posted on April 18, 2008
A bill to overhaul the Massachusetts open meeting law was reported favorably out of committee yesterday. While there is a lot to like about the bill, it is disappointing for its failure to address the most significant weakness in the law -- its lack of teeth...

Podcast: The Case for the Federal Shield Law

Posted on April 18, 2008
John McCain's endorsement this week of a federal shield law for journalists has given renewed momentum to the Free Flow of Information Act pending in Congress (S 2035). At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice has renewed its offensive against the bill with the launch of a special section of its Web site devoted to its opposition and an op-ed in USA Today by Attorney General Michael B...

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Defamation Case Dismissed

Posted on March 24, 2008
A federal appeals court has dismissed the defamation lawsuit brought by a U.S. military veteran of Iraq against filmmaker Michael Moore over his depiction in the 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. In Damon v. Moore, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that former Army Reserves Sgt...

Libel Suit Tossed Against Local News Site

Posted on March 20, 2008
A Vermont judge has dismissed the libel lawsuit filed against Chris Grotke and Lise LePage over a comment posted on the community news site they co-founded, iBrattleboro.com. The plaintiff, Effie Mayhew, had argued that they should have edited or removed the allegedly defamatory comment...

Town's Unposted Meetings Violated Law

Posted on March 20, 2008
The town of Charlton's ad hoc Water Search Subcommittee violated the Massachusetts open meeting law when it met in a series of unposted meetings, the Worcester District Attorney's Office has ruled. According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the meetings came to light after the newspaper filed a public records request for the subcommittee's minutes...

Podcast: Spitzer and the Law

Posted on March 20, 2008
Lawyers considered Eliot Spitzer either a hero or a villain. But as the now-former governor of New York faces possible criminal charges, we explore the case against him on this week's edition of the legal-affairs podcast LegalTalkNetwork. Joining my cohost J...

Sunshine Week coverage in Mass.

Posted on March 17, 2008
I am collecting links to Sunshine Week coverage by Massachusetts newspapers at the Web site of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association.

Podcast: Incompetence Among Immigration Lawyers

Posted on March 01, 2008
A recent decision of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opened with these words: "With disturbing frequency, this Court encounters evidence of ineffective representation by attorneys retained by immigrants seeking legal status in this country." This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, my cohost J...

Podcast: The Lawyer Candidates

Posted on February 22, 2008
With the Democratic race for president down to two lawyers, how well did the legal careers of Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton prepare them to become our nation's chief executive. That is the topic this week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, as my cohost J...

MA to Review Rules Limiting Judicial Comment

Posted on January 28, 2008
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court announed today that it has appointed a panel to consider whether to revise the rule limiting public comment by judges. Canon 3B(9) of the Massachusetts Code of Judicial Conduct requires judges to "abstain from public comment about a pending or impending Massachusetts proceeding in any court...

Podcast: Virtual Law Firms

Posted on January 28, 2008
Almost since the earliest days of the Internet, lawyers have been experimenting with virtual firms to increase efficiency and lower costs. More recently, virtual firms have taken on greater levels of sophistication and complexity. This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we discuss this phenomenon with the principals of two virtual firms and a business-development consultant...

Podcast: Social Networking and the Law

Posted on January 23, 2008
This week on our legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, my co-host J. Craig Williams and I look at the topic, Social Networking and the Law. We have an insightful conversation with three guests who have very different perspectives on the topic: Chris Carfi, co-founder of business-networking company Cerado; Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law; and Kara Swisher, co-executive editor of All Things Digital...

Reg Requires Media to Wear Safety Vests

Posted on January 23, 2008
A Federal Highway Administration regulation that takes effect later this year appears to require members of the news media to wear high-visibility safety apparel when covering events on federally supported highways. The regulation, published at 71 Federal Register 67792, requires, "All workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or to construction equipment within the work area shall wear high-visibility safety apparel...

E-mails did not Violate Open Meeting Law

Posted on January 16, 2008
A Massachusetts district attorney has ruled that a Northampton city councilor did not violate the state's open meetings law when he sent e-mails discussing city business to a majority of city councilors. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that Northwestern Assistant DA Cynthia M...

The Republican Opposes CORI Changes

Posted on January 16, 2008
An editorial today in The Republican, Changes in CORI Would Be a Crime, says that Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed changes to the Criminal Offender Record Information law, or CORI, would restrict the public's right to know about criminal convictions in a job applicant's past...

I am Interviewed on LexBlog

Posted on January 06, 2008
Thanks to Rob La Gatta at Real Lawyers Have Blogs, the blog of LexBlog, for publishing this Q&A with me.

Our Podcast Named Best Legal Podcast

Posted on December 26, 2007
I am honored to report that Lawyer2Lawyer, the weekly legal-affairs podcast I cohost with J. Craig Williams, is the winner for the second year in a row of Dennis Kennedy's Best of Law-related Blogging Award for Best Legal Podcast. Dennis writes:"This regular weekly podcast of interviews and panel discussions has a new name for 2007, but is once again the clear choice as best legal podcast...

Podcast: The Tavares Case

Posted on December 05, 2007
A Massachusetts' judge's release of Daniel Tavares become part of the national political debate after Tavares allegedly shot and killed a newlywed couple in Washington state and Republican presidential hopeful and former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney called on the judge -- his own appointee -- to resign...

Podcast: Vioxx Lawyers Discuss Settlement

Posted on November 20, 2007
On Nov. 9, Merck & Co., after long insisting it would never settle the 27,000 Vioxx cases filed against it, turned an about face and agreed to a global settlement in which it will pay $4.85 billion to resolve the bulk of these cases. Two of the lawyers who were instrumental in bringing this about join us to discuss the settlement on the latest episode of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer...

Podcast: The RIAA vs. File Sharers

Posted on November 18, 2007
This week on the legal affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we discuss the ongoing litigation by the Recording Industry Association of America against college students, soccer moms and others accused of illegally sharing and downloading music. Our guests for this program are two experts on the issue:Richard L...

MNPA Annual Meeting Set for Nov. 29

Posted on November 12, 2007
The annual meeting of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association is scheduled for Nov. 29, 2007, at Anthony's Pier Four in Boston. This year's featured luncheon speaker is Margaret H. Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, who will speak on courts and the news media and take questions from the audience...

Presentation on Russian Courts and Media

Posted on November 09, 2007
After my trip to Russia last May, I gave a presentation in Boston on Russian courts and the news media. I have now converted that presentation to Flash and posted it here, should anyone be interested in viewing it.

Database Tracks Threats to Citizen Journalists

Posted on November 07, 2007
The Citizen Media Law Project today launched its Legal Threats Database, a collection that documents legal threats aimed at online speech, including lawsuits, cease-and-desist letters and other legal actions. I have further details at my LawSites blog.

Podcast: Pam Smart Case Back in the News

Posted on November 07, 2007
The 1991 first-degree murder trial of New Hampshire teacher Pam Smart drew international media attention and spawned the Joyce Maynard novel and Nicole Kidman movie, To Die For. Smart was accusing of luring her 16-year-old lover, William Flynn, and two of his friends into murdering her husband Gregory...

SJC Upholds Child Porn Law

Posted on October 19, 2007
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today issued a decision, Commonwealth v. Kenney, upholding the First Amendment constitutionality of the state law that makes it a crime to possess child pornography. The court rejected the defendant's contentions that the statute violates the First Amendment because it is vague and overbroad...

House Passes Media Shield Bill

Posted on October 16, 2007
AP is reporting that the House today passed the media shield bill. The White House has threatened to veto it.

Could the SJC Remove Judge Murphy?

Posted on October 16, 2007
After the Commission on Judicial Conduct concludes this week's hearing into Judge Ernest Murphy's letters to Boston Herald Publisher Patrick Purcell, it will decide whether to recommend that he be disciplined. The CJC cannot impose discipline itself; it sends a recommendation to the Supreme Judicial Court, which is free to accept, reject or modify the recommendation...

Podcast: Chemerinsky, Drake Discuss New Irvine Law School

Posted on October 10, 2007
Break out the bubbly! It is the second anniversary (give or take a month) of our weekly legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer. We posted our first program on Aug. 31, 2005, with two special guests, then newly installed ABA President Michael S. Greco and Duke Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky...

Text of Ruling in WHDH Prior Restraint Case

Posted on October 09, 2007
[A Massachusetts Appeals Court judge last week lifted an injunction that blocked a Boston TV station from reporting the results of an explosive autopsy report showing that one Boston firefighter killed in the line of duty was intoxicated and another had traces of cocaine in his blood...

What Powell Meant to Say in Branzburg

Posted on October 07, 2007
In A Justice's Scribbles on Journalists' Rights, New York Times reporter Adam Liptak sheds light on what Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. meant to say in Branzburg v. Hayes, that most cryptic of cases dealing with journalists' right to protect confidential sources.

Libel Win Pit Newspaper Against Newspaper

Posted on September 26, 2007
Always good news when a newspaper beats a libel lawsuit, but in an ironic twist to a Texas case decided last week, the victorious newspaper was defending itself against a plaintiff that was also a newspaper. As Tex Parte Blog reports, the Sept. 20 ruling from the state's 8th Court of Appeals was a victory for Belo Corp...

Justice Giveth; Justice Taketh Away

Posted on September 26, 2007
Adjacent news items from the Web site of The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government offer in ironic illustration of public-access hypocrisy by the U.S. Justice Department. First comes the good news: The Justice Department has directed all federal departments and agencies that have an FOIA backlog to post a plan by Nov...

NYT: A Shield for the Public

Posted on September 21, 2007
Yesterday's New York Times editorial, A Shield for the Public, puts the emphasis where it should be in supporting the federal shield bill. The key point is that a shield bill is not needed to protect journalists, it is needed to protect the public's right to know...

Podcast: Toy Safety, the View from China

Posted on September 21, 2007
The label "Made in China" is under a lot of scrutiny as of late. On the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer this week, we talk to two experts resident in China for their perspective on how governments and manufacturers can help ensure toy and product safety...

Podcast: Human Rights Lawyers

Posted on September 13, 2007
Lawyers who devote substantial time to promoting international human rights are our focus this week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer. Joining my cohost J. Craig Williams and me to discuss their work in this field are:Christina M. Storm, founder and director of Lawyers Without Borders, the world's largest organization of volunteer human rights lawyers...

Sad Footnote to Murphy Libel Case

Posted on August 28, 2007
I just learned that Bob Dushman, the highly regarded Boston media lawyer who defended the Boston Herald at trial in the Judge Ernest Murphy libel case, died July 27 at the age of 59. Bob was a partner with Brown Rudnick and had represented the Herald for more than two decades...

California Finds Right to Know Salaries

Posted on August 27, 2007
California's Supreme Court issued two important cases today involving the public's right to know. In one, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers v. The Superior Court of Alameda County, the court held that the public has the right to obtain the names and salaries of public employees earning $100,000 or more a year...

Podcast: Baseball and the Law

Posted on August 23, 2007
Steroid scandals, home-run balls, libel lawsuits -- baseball is becoming a hotbed of legal activity. This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer 2 Lawyer, my cohost J. Craig Williams and I discuss the legal issues emerging in the wake of Barry Bonds' new home-run record, from what Major League Baseball should do about steroids to who rightly owns the home-run ball...

Podcast: YouTube and Legal Marketing

Posted on July 30, 2007
This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we look at YouTube as a legal marketing tool. Joining my cohost J. Craig Williams and me to discuss this are our guests:Neil Squillante, publisher of TechnoLawyer.Kevin O?Keefe, president and founder of LexBlog...

Podcast: Avvo's Founders Respond

Posted on July 11, 2007
In today's edition of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we interview the founders of the controversial lawyer rating site Avvo, President and CEO Mark Britton and VP of Products & Marketing Paul Bloom. The two discuss their reasons for founding the site, their responses to criticisms and their future plans...